Jobber Awards $150,000 in Grants to 25 Home Service Pros

August 9, 2022

Jobber, a leading provider of home service operations management software, has announced the recipients of its $150,000 Jobber Grants program. Twenty-five entrepreneurs were selected from thousands of applications and rewarded with funds ranging from $2,500 to $15,000 USD to help grow and amplify the community impact of their home service businesses.

"Jobber Grants is the only program specifically designed to spotlight the hardworking and often overlooked entrepreneurs who make up the home services category," said Sam Pillar, CEO and co-founder of Jobber. "We are thrilled to recognize these people and to support their ambitions to build something out of nothing. The contributions of these individuals, whether they're new to home service or industry veterans, are helping to create stronger and more robust communities across North America, and it's our honor to recognize that."

Recipients from this year's program fit into four categories: home service heroes who keep our homes safe and running; career builders who help hardworking people build meaningful careers; smooth operators who strive for high standards in every area of their businesses; and community caretakers who give back to the communities where they live and work. Individuals were selected based on written submissions, followed by interviews with a Jobber judging panel.

The top grant of $15,000 was given to Shane Fast, founder of Renew Painting located in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The company, which provides an array of painting and staining services, focuses on giving a diverse group of employees including women, minorities, and individuals from low socio-economic backgrounds valuable experience in skilled work while providing fair living wages and profit-sharing. Shane also donates 10 percent of all profits to non-profit organizations in his community.

"I spent many years in the inner city near St. Louis where I saw a lot of poverty and watched people really struggle to overcome obstacles," Fast said. "The experience molded me to love people more deeply, recognize the position they're coming from, and inspired me to give back to my community as much as I can. Jobber created an opportunity for us to ramp up our plans to provide meaningful employment to more people and equip existing staff in various ways, an investment that will also relieve some of the stress and pressures that come with juggling family life with rapidly scaling a business. To be entrusted with this Jobber Grant leaves me with profound excitement and gratitude."

Shaylyn and Timothy Bliss, new entrepreneurs and founders of Home Roots Lawn Care in San Marcos, Texas, received a $10,000 Jobber Grant. Home Roots Lawn Care was founded in the middle of the pandemic while Shaylyn was pregnant and Timothy was mowing lawns in between shifts as a firefighter, working roughly 150 hours per week. The business quickly grew large enough to provide full-time roles for both Shaylyn and Timothy who are using the grant to expand their team and purchase equipment. Home Roots Lawn Care recently donated a significant amount of resources and time toward cleaning up low-income properties as part of a city-wide event, which they plan to participate in annually. Shaylyn and Timothy intentionally purchase supplies and equipment from local small businesses and employ many individuals who struggled to find work during the pandemic.

"This Jobber Grant is such a big push forward for our business, and comes at a great time, too," said Shaylyn Bliss. "We're in the process of training several new hires, which will allow us to focus on more complicated jobs and big picture planning."

"It's important that our people have a positive onboarding experience and that we create a strong sense of community among our employees," added Timothy Bliss. "We want to instill the importance of giving back to the community with every new hire, and Jobber is helping us achieve this."

The full list of Jobber Grant recipients include the following:

The Career Builders